Opinion: It is absurd that Congress has done nothing to prevent more mass shootings

by Boris Epshteyn, Chief Political Analyst

(MGN Online)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - Do more children have to die before Congress takes real action to protect our schools and communities?

It is absurd that it’s been over three weeks since the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and Congress has done nothing to prevent more mass killings. Instead, the Senate is voting on a banking bill this week. A banking bill? Really? How is that more important than saving our kids’ lives?

The House is supposed to vote on a school safety bill next week. It will include grants for schools to improve their security. That bill should become law as quickly as humanly possible. Honestly, I am not optimistic that will happen.

So who is taking action?

I applaud national retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, and L.L. Bean who announced that they will not be selling any firearms to anyone under the age of 21.

Some states are also making progress.

For example, Florida’s state legislature passed a bill that raises the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, implements a 3 day waiting period to buy a gun and bans bump stocks. The bill also allows school staff to carry concealed weapons on school grounds after firearm and diversity training.

Here is the bottom line: the people we elect to Congress have to understand that they work for us, not the other way around. I hope that members of Congress see the steps taken by businesses, hear the concerns from their voters and get to work on full scale legislation that will prevent another attack like the one in Parkland, Florida.